Re: 6s
and 7s

: : Does anyone
know the origin of the phrase, to be at sixes and (or) at sevens?

: From the
archives:

: Source: "Hog on Ice" by Charles Earle Funk: (paraphrased). The
expression is believed to be 150 years old at least (this written in 1948). An
older form, "on six and seven," was known in Chaucer's day and he used it in 1375
in "Troylus and Cryseyde." But he didn't explain it. Mr. Funk thinks Chaucer's
use referred to an old dicing game. From Chaucer and other sources, we know there
was a game where to try a throw of six and seven was a very risky gamble. One
who staked his win on such a throw was reckless in the extreme.

It's one of
the more ancient expressions in the language, being recorded in the fourteenth
century. There are various theories about its origin, but the most probable is
that it arose out of an old game of dice called hazard, one in which one's chances
of winning were complicated by a set of rather arbitrary rules.

It is thought
that the expression was originally to set on cinque and sice (from the French
numerals, "five" and "six"). These were apparently the most risky numbers to shoot
for ("to set on") and anyone who tried for them was considered careless or confused.
Later, the number words shifted to their modern values, perhaps because the link
with the game (and the original French words) had by then been severed, or perhaps
it was a joke, as seven is an impossible number to throw with one die. The change
may also be linked to the sum of the new numbers being thirteen, always considered
unlucky. Its modern sense is simply "to be confused".

Incidentally, our word
hazard came into the language first to refer to the dice game (via the Old French
hasard and the Spanish azar from the Arabic az-zahr "luck, chance"), and only
later took on the meaning of a danger or risk, or as a verb, to venture something.